Heart of the Betrayed and Broken
by WasabiMama
Summary: Due to a shortage of available engineers, the Enterprise is forced to take on a disgraced young woman held responsible for a tragic occurrence. Perhaps she is not as at fault as everyone finds easiest to believe. As she becomes a part of the adventures of the Enterprise, she attempts to better herself and aid her new crew mates however she may, possibly clearing her name as well.
1. Chapter 1

_The smell._

 _Burnt flesh, fried circuits, melted metal, it all clashed together to make one cocktail that no one could ever truly make themselves forget. The sound of explosions throughout the bay was a constant as the ship was bombarded with attack after attack. Screams ripped the air from the unfortunate ones that had become trapped in the trouble._

 _"Chief! We've reached critical temperatures, the engines are nearing implosion and the impulse engines are peaking in temperatures, and several of the crew have been trapped in the southern sector!"_

 _The shout came from a young man in the traditional engineering garb, bracing himself against a support beam as he stared down at a woman frantically working on repairs in a center console. She pulled her head out of the wall and faced the near frantic man. His eyes widened at the sight of his superior as she rose to her feet and pushed several tools into his hands._

 _"Finish up the repairs here, then I want an immediate evacuation of the lower levels. If the engines hit critical no one can survive down there!"She ordered before rushing past him._

 _"Where are you going?!" He called after her._

 _"I've got people depending on me Ensign! Finish those blasted repairs and get everyone you can out of here and to the upper decks!" She yelled back to him before vanishing down a corridor._

 _Her heart hammered in her chest while her blood pumped in her ears while she raced down the walkways, spouting orders to evacuate to anyone she'd encounter. Focusing her attention back on the way she was headed, she had to stumble back a few steps as fire spouted out of the walls. Shouting could barely be heard above the noise of the ongoing destruction of the ship._

 _"This is Chief Engineer! Reveal your location!" She shouted while pushing forward, beating back the flames that licked at her uniform, hissing when her arm burnt, and continued on her way._

 _"Chief! We're down here!"_

 _The call came from just to her left, her gaze snapping to the side to find the walkway blocked by fallen pipes and metal wreckage debris. She rushed towards it, seeing several engineers peering between the small spaces available. Surveying them, they appeared panicked but no major injuries._

 _"Is anyone seriously hurt in there?"_

 _"Negative. One member is trapped beneath a collapsed piping system, but we can get to him."_

 _She nodded and stood up, feeling the hot metal and having grim determination build within her._

 _"All of you! Back away from the blockage! There's some live circuitry in here, I might be able to cause a controlled reaction to blow it out of the way enough for your escape!" She stated, already fiddling with the stripped cords. Sparks flew every now and then, burning her already burnt arms further. Rigging two wires together, she took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and jammed them into the live wire that lay exposed in the largest pipe. Scrambling away from the pipe, she barely had a chance to cover her head before the explosion rocked the area. Her ears now ringing, she uncovered herself and quickly moved to where a hole lay in the once blocked off walkway. The engineers were already spilling out and looking at her with appreciation._

 _"Hurry up and get out of here! The ships going down and the engines are reaching critical. We've already evacuated most of the area. You should be the last ones. Did we get that man loose?" She questioned while making sure the group filtered out of what could have been their tomb safely. Her question was answered when two crew members helped a young man through the hole. He looked no older than 19 years old._

 _"Alright good, good, come on! We've got to get out of here!" She yelled before simply scooping the young man up and slinging him over her shoulders. "Let's move people!" She ordered, taking off at nearly a dead run, adrenaline fueling her strength as she focused on protecting her crewmates. Alarms were blaring and the temperature in the tight spaces was growing unbearable. Rounding the corner, her eyes flew wide open when she found the console she'd been repairing an empty station and the young Ensign nowhere to be found. Biting back a curse, she turned down another corridor, seeing the elevator just ahead of her._

 _"Hurry up and get inside! Head straight for the bridge and don't look back for anything!" She commanded, pulling the young man off of her shoulders and rushing them all into the tight space. The doors slid shut and when prompted for a designation, she practically screamed for them to be taken to the bridge. The small container shook as another explosion rocked the ships interior and she turned at hearing quiet crying. A young woman tried to hide her tears and brushed them off her sweaty cheeks while another woman held her shoulders. They looked up at her with expectant gazes and she gave them a placating smile._

 _"We'll be alright, we've made it out this far." She stated before the communicator went off. Before she could answer, another explosion could be heard before a sick weightless feeling overtook her and a harsh crash removed her from the land of the alert._

0o0o0o0

That had been over a year ago, the tragic destruction of the USS _Harbinger_ being a loss felt by many. Many of the crew had escaped the destruction, but others were not so fortunate, among those were almost the entirety of personnel in the lift. Having been comatose for nearly the entirety of her trial, Joy Ceballos awoke to find that she'd been court-martialed and found guilty of the charges being pressed against her. Her sentence was to be stripped of rank and continue working for Starfleet in the Archives. This was where all the dusty relics were held and old history recorded. Not surprisingly she found herself being the only worker in the Archives, leaving her alone with her thoughts, the relics, and schematics still bouncing about in her head. Time passed, people moved on, but no one really forgot about the USS _Harbinger_ , or what could have been considered the greatest screw up in the known universe. Mostly people simply forgot where the cause had been placed, leaving Joy alone and able to absorb the forced solitude. She had no friends, no allies, but she didn't mind. If enough people call someone a murderer, a hazard to health, a monster, they eventually start to believe it.

o0o0o0o0o0o

The scratching of a pencil against paper filled the empty area. A young woman was hunched over an old-fashioned wooden desk, furiously writing and glancing at a mess of papers next to her at brief intervals. Big brown eyes narrowed in concentration as soft pink lips parted as a tongue tipped out and whetted them before closing once again. A slightly calloused hand rubbed tan skin in a poor attempt at warding off a building headache. Standing from her seated position, Joy Ceballos scuttled over to an overstocked shelving unit, nearly overflowing with scrap metals, papers with designs and equations scribbled on them, and an assortment of tools. Securing her desired tool, Joy quickly turned to go back to her seat only to have her white T-shirt catch on an outcropping piece of metal. She jerked to a halt at the sudden resistance and carefully unhooked herself before returning to her station.

"Okay, so if I reroute most of the power from the side power conduit, and funnel it down the side panels to the…" Her murmuring trailed off as she relapsed into focusing on her project. The silence was comforting for her, and so she did nothing else to disrupt it. Merely enjoying the faint scratching of the pencil on the paper, she relaxed…until the sound of someone calling her attention shattered the comfortable silence. A quiet shriek escaped her and she spun to face whoever had stumbled into her domain. Slightly gasping, she faced a man wearing a uniform she was very familiar with and she immediately calmed. She snapped into a salute before faltering as the man simply cocked an eyebrow and gave her a funny look. Lowering her salute, she frowned at the man.

"Erm, can I help you sir?" She timidly questioned, shifting her weight from one foot to the other and glancing about nervously.

"My name's Captain James T. Kirk." He stated before he took a step forward and she shuffled the smallest portion backwards.

"Do you need something Mr. Kirk?" She softly questioned, attempting to keep her eyes on anything but him. She was failing and her nerves were building.

"I'm the Captain of the USS _Enterprise_. The ship's docked in right now and recruiting engineers which, unfortunately, we're experiencing a shortage of. I have reviewed your academic prowess and achievements and have come to the understanding that you would be a key part of my crew."

Joy's jaw dropped.

 _This guy can't be serious!_

Her heart was in her throat and she could feel her hands beginning to sweat as she struggled to come up with an answer.

"Sir a-are you c-cert-"

"I can make it a direct order ensign." He stated, looking at her dead in the eye. "I really would like to avoid that happening. You only need work on board until more engineers are available for recruiting." Mr. Kirk firmly, but not unkindly, stated.

Still floundering, but not seeing any other option for her to squeeze her way out of this arrangement, Joy lowered her gaze and stared at her shoes.

"Yes sir. When should I be expected aboard?" She quietly questioned, fiddling with the hem of her T-shirt. Unbeknownst to her, Kirk's facial expression dropped to one of sympathy for a brief moment before steeling himself once more.

"The _Enterprise_ leaves at 0600 hours. I believe that gives you enough time to gather your essential belongings. Everything else will be transported aboard at a later time. Anything else ensign?"

She kept her eyes on her shoes, gently shaking her head.

"No sir."

"Good. I'll see you on board then." Those were his parting words before the Captain turned and exited the archives the way he'd come in.

Joy took a shuddering breath, rubbed her eyes before checking the time and flying into action. Preparing her projects, papers, and other items she'd culminated in the Archives for transport.

0o0o0o0o0

 **Hi there! I'm new here and this is my first story so I'm really nervous about sharing this. Hopefully you guys enjoy this so if you guys have any thoughts or if you just liked it, go ahead hit that button and review X3**

 **Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over anything relating to Star Trek, only thing I own here is Joy so...yeah see you in the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi there! Wow, I really didn't expect anyone to give this thing attention but I'm glad they did! Thanks for stopping by, reading this little tidbit, and leaving a follow or a fav, means a lot to me you guys! So, here's the second installment and I hope you guys like it! Don't forget to leave a review (even if it's a little happy face lol)**

 **0o0o0o0o0  
**

Joy quickly walked down the halls of Starfleet while keeping her head down. The halls were slowly starting to come to life as people were going about their daily duties. She had hoped she would be able to go to transport an hour early and pretty much escape to the ship. However, this plan was halted by a little voice in the back of her head warning her against that early of an arrival and the kind of image that would give her...not that she really had an image left. Grudgingly, she settled for half an hour early and was now paying for it with more people in the hallways than she'd anticipated. Barely managing to dodge a group of chattering Lieutenants, she clutched the rolls of paper tighter to her chest and slightly picked up her pace. The plan was basically get to the _Enterprise_ and just bury herself in work and avoid interaction with anyone as much as she could. Ducking into the transport room, she breathed a sigh of relief at seeing only the two required technicians standing behind the control console. Joy quickly stepped up to the counter, sharing a shy smile with the technician who spared her one, before slightly cowering when the other glared at her.

"What do you want?" He questioned gruffly his partner glancing at him in surprise at his tone while Joy cleared her throat, swallowing her rising nerves.

"I was told to report to the transporter at 0600 hours for, um, transport to the USS _Enterprise_ because Captain James T. Kirk recruited me due to a recent shortage of available engineers." She quietly stated, nervously readjusting the strap of her shoulder bag.

The man looked at her skeptically before scoffing. "You're half an hour early ensign." He stated, putting heavy strain on the word ensign. Joy winced at his tone, adjusting her grip on her schematics and the rolls of paper she carried close to her chest.

"Yes sir, I just wanted to get there early so I could settle in first before being given my duties." She murmured quietly.

He continued to look at her in disbelief before pushing a button that Joy couldn't see from her angle.

"Transport to _Enterprise_ , transport to _Enterprise_ , come in _Enterprise_."

 _:Kirk here, go ahead transport.:_

"Sorry to be disturbing you Captain, but an engineering ensign here claims she was ordered to report to you. Should I send her away sir?"

 _:No Lieutenant, send her aboard.:_ He stated before the com. went dead.

Joy breathed a quick sigh of relief before hurrying onto the platform and clutching her objects to herself before slightly loosening her grip in fear of crumpling or otherwise disfiguring her projects and equations. The once familiar tingling sensation prompted Joy to squeeze her eyes shut. A weightless sensation settled over her and she quickly started counting down the seconds until she could finally feel her feet on solid ground, in a poor attempt to quell her rampaging nerves. The moment her feet settled, she opened her eyes and slightly relaxed at the sight of a different transporter room. Two technicians faced her from behind the main console and she was awarded no kind smiles from either of them, and only the Captain was looking at her with a calm expression.

She quickly stepped off the platform and gave the Captain an attentive salute.

"Ensign Joy Cabellos reporting, sir." She stated, forcing herself not to stutter.

He observed her for a moment and she grew worried as she fought to stay at attention.

 _Oh gosh, is he upset that I'm so earlier? Was I not supposed to salute him?!_

Before her mind could run away with other worries and suggestions, the Captain approached her with an easy look on his face.

"At ease ensign."

Joy released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and felt her face grow hot when the Captain gave her a curious look before seemingly shrugging it off.

"Follow me, yeoman O'Connell will show you to your quarters and deliver your uniform. Get settled in and once you've finished with that report to engineering. Our Chief Engineer will be there to meet you and assign you a station." He stated as they exited the transporter room, quickly joined by a young woman in a red uniform. Joy silently nodded at her while quickly appraising her. The yeoman was very pretty, a full figure with curves in the right places, soft pink pouty lips, green eyes, and a very short, very bright, red hair. O'Connell spared her a glance as the both of them followed Captain Kirk towards the lift. A tight feeling of uneasy permeated Joy's bones at the sight of it and she manged to conceal a sharp inhale by adjusting her papers. The Captain entered the lift and acknowledged the pair of women before the doors closed and the two were left alone in the corridor. An awkward silence settled over them, Joy, struggling to maintain the illusion of peace, spoke up.

"S-so what's your n-name?" She frowned mentally at her stutter but looked at yeoman O'Connell hopefully. That hope was rather crushed when the yeoman leveled her an icy glare.

"Save it. I know what you did, and I know that you should not be here."

Her tone bit into Joy and she cringed away from the woman, knowing she was being spineless but not really having the strength to do much else. Apparently Joy's reaction was enough for O'Connell and she sneered before the doors opened, allowing Joy to have a brief escape away from her before she joined her once again. When prompted for a destination, O'Connell grumbled under her breath.

"Level 5."

The drop sent Joy scrambling to grab a hand holder. O'Connell scoffed as Joy quickly counted the seconds to herself, thought about her projects, anything to take her mind off of the near panic racing through her mind. As soon as the doors opened, Joy was quickly out of the lift and waiting for the yeoman. O'Connell stared at her before shoving past her and leading her down the corridor. The two stopped in front of a door close to the end of that particular corridor, Joy smiled when the door automatically opened revealing quaint quarters. She stepped through and turned back to O'Connell when the woman cleared her throat.

"You're uniform will be delivered shortly, I'm hope you're capable of recalling the Captain's orders?" She inquired, making Joy's face feel hot again. She timidly nodded and felt the tension drain out of her when O'Connell quickly took her leave. Turning back to her quarters, Joy quickly began settling in. Her papers and schematics quickly took over the desk taking up the majority of the available space. Setting her bag down on the standard orange and gold bed, she began pulling several of her personal effects out and setting them about the room, settling in as best as she could. They weren't necessarily high value items or rare trinkets from strange worlds, they were just old things that she'd discovered in the Archives and strove to replicate for herself. Besides the old things, ranging from a very old camera to an antiquated music device, there were a couple photos she'd had made into the old copies, the ones they would put in frames and display on earth. Making sure they were all in places that Joy would be able to see easily, she turned and pulled the last remaining items out of her bag. Setting the items inside the only drawer in the desk, she gazed fondly at the sketch books and wild assortments of pens, pencils, and markers before her attention was drawn by a buzz from her door. She quickly rushed over, not wanting to keep anyone waiting. The doors quickly opened to reveal another yeoman, this one a young man again wearing the red uniform.

"This is your uniform." His tone left no room for any continuing of conversation and had a blank look on his face. Joy sighed and gently took the folded clothes out of his hands and nodded her appreciation.

"Thank you sir." She stated, missing the man's brief surprise until he nodded at her and quickly left. Turning around, the doors whooshed shut behind her leaving her alone once again. Unfolding the uniform, she was greatly surprised to find that it was the male version of the standard uniform. Biting her lip, Joy forced herself to accept the mix up, trying to look at the bright side, at least she wouldn't have to wear those horribly short dresses. Slipping into her small bathroom, she changed out of her civilian clothes and into the provided uniform, glad to see it wasn't to conforming nor was it too baggy. Satisfied, she exited the bathroom and pulled on the boots before checking herself over making sure everything was in order.

"Okay, back straight, take a deep breath...I can do this. I can do this!" Joy stated, firmly nodding to herself and before she lost her courage, quickly exited her room and made her way down to the lift. Stepping into the contraption, she immediately clasped the hand hold and fought to calm her shaking.

 _:Destination?:_

Jumping at the computer's voice, Joy shakily took a deep breath.

"Engineering please."


End file.
